View Categories

Google Books Metadata Fetch

Royalties HQ can automatically fetch cover images and metadata from Google Books API for your title formats.

What data is fetched? #

When enabled, Royalties HQ will attempt to fetch the following data from Google Books API:

  • Cover images (saved to the title)
  • Published dates
  • Publisher/Imprint names
  • Language codes
  • Page counts

Important notes:

  • Only title formats with ISBNs can fetch metadata from Google Books
  • The data available varies by book – not all books have complete data
  • Only empty fields will be updated – existing data will not be overwritten

Automatic fetching #

You can enable automatic metadata fetching in Settings (main menu > Settings > Google Books Metadata).

When enabled, cover images and metadata will be automatically fetched from Google Books API when an ISBN is added to a title format (via UI or CSV import). Only empty fields will be updated – existing data will not be overwritten.

Manual fetching (individual titles) #

You can manually fetch metadata for individual titles:

  1. Go to the title’s Title Details tab
  2. Look for the “Fetch metadata from Google Books” button in the cover image section (this button only appears when at least one format has an ISBN, and the title does not yet have a cover image)
  3. Click the button to queue the metadata fetch
  4. The page will automatically refresh when new data is available

The fetch runs in the background. When complete, the page will update automatically to show any newly fetched cover images and metadata.

Note: The fetch button is only visible when the title has at least one format with an ISBN and the title does not yet have a cover image.

Batch fetching (all titles) #

You can manually fetch metadata for all your title formats with ISBNs at once:

  1. Go to Settings (main menu > Settings)
  2. Scroll to the Google Books Metadata section
  3. Click “Fetch Metadata for All Titles”
  4. All title formats with ISBNs will be processed in the background
  5. Check the title pages to see updated cover images and metadata

This is useful when you’ve just imported many new title formats with ISBNs.

Troubleshooting #

Note: the cover images provided by Google are usually small. You can upload a new image if you prefer.

No cover image was fetched: #

  • The book may not be in Google Books’ database
  • Google Books may not have a cover image for this ISBN
  • The ISBN may be incorrect

Some metadata fields didn’t update: #

  • The field may already have data (existing data is never overwritten)
  • Google Books may not have that specific data for this book

The fetch button stays in “Fetching…” state: #

  • Refresh the page – the fetch may have completed
  • Check your internet connection
  • Check the application logs for any errors